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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23633317">Home Under Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombichlerka/pseuds/zombichlerka'>zombichlerka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Home Under Water [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Riverdale (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, F/M, Jughead is a lawyer, a water spirit that's supposed to take lives, betty is a nix, especially because this one human is so cute, except that she doesn't wanna, im not good at tags</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:01:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,895</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23633317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombichlerka/pseuds/zombichlerka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, today is your lucky day, Elizabeth. You’ll get to drown your very first human,” Alice Cooper says, and Betty feels like throwing up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Home Under Water [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Home Under Water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I hope this makes sense. This idea came to me in a dream today and I just sat down and wrote whatever I could pull from my memory. It'd unedited and English isn't my first language so I apologize for mistakes and errors.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Betty’s leg is bouncing. Up and down. Quickly. Then stopping. And starting again. Polly gets fed up eventually, reaching out and squeezing her sister’s knee.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Calm down.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Betty forces her lips to lift in a smile, even if it didn’t reach her eyes. “I don’t want to - “</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shh. You can’t talk about it here.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They hold hands the few more minutes until the door opens quietly. They both straighten up, watching the members of the council leaving their home without as much as a look their way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last one to leave the room is their mother. She does look at them sitting in the hall, her face serious with a hint of a unkind smirk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, today is your lucky day, Elizabeth. You’ll get to drown your very first human,” Alice Cooper says, and Betty feels like throwing up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was dreading the day ever since she could think for herself and fully realize how wrong her family doings are. But that’s just it… it wasn’t just her family. It was her entire... species. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once humans become useless or come in your way… you get rid of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s what we do, Elizabeth. That’s the sentence she always kept hearing, her whole life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She always looked away when her parents drowned. Even when it was her sister’s turn, Betty would close her eyes, wishing to be somewhere else.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was hoping the humans in their current home, Riverdale, would never cause them any troubles. They could live in harmony with them. Most of them are nice, anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She made some friends with the humans closest to her apparent age, as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as she heard this human male was threatening to take their house down… she knew his time was running out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Coopers wouldn’t let the lesser species take their home. The house was perfect for them, right next to the Sweetwater River. She loves simply jumping in and swimming away whenever things get difficult with her parents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She hated that they could possibly lose the house so closely linked to their real home, but taking someone’s life was one of the things she was most against.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mother… I… is it truly necessary?” she whispered in a small voice, avoiding her mother’s hard stare, looking to her father instead. He always showed to be more negotiable. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before he could even open his mouth, Alice reaches out, grabbing Betty’s hand still in Polly’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The council has agreed. You’ll get rid of the lawyer, we keep our house. Problem solved.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But what if - “</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“I don’t want to hear any more excuses, Elizabeth.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looks down from her mother’s intense stare, feeling small and unimportant. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You get it done. Talk to Polly if you need help.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Betty’s shoulders slump and she swallows hard, ignoring the bile rising in her throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly takes her hand again, squeezing. “This is who we are, Betty. Once it’s all over you’ll see it’s not that bad…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s never seen the lawyer assigned to the case of their house, but she’s heard his voice through the walls multiple times. The way he stood his ground even in front of her terrifying mother, explaining the house is basically a sponge full of water by now. It’s unsafe and needs to be taken down. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her parents tried everything. Bribes, threats, hypnosis. Not that the last thing actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>works</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but you never know when nix develops a new unique ability. Hypnosis is something they’d need right now. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The male wouldn’t budge. The house will be tore down. The Coopers will be moved to a safe house in a safe distance from the river. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except when Alice Cooper received permission to get rid of the lawyer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And of course she’d make her youngest do the dirty work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After all, she is old enough for her first soul. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Murder.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If she could cry, she would, looking at herself in the mirror being pampered by her older sister. Her blond hair was falling over her shoulders in soft waves and her naturally pale skin shined with added bronze and blush. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now just a bit more of lipstick and you’ll look just like a normal human girl.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Betty swallows, her eyes darting away from her reflection. “Polly… I’m scared.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her sister giggles softly, caressing Betty’s hair. “Sweetie, it’s nothing to be scared of. It comes naturally. It’ll only take a few minutes.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s going to take someone’s soul for the first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But what about her soul? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was she born without it by simply being a nix? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mother wrote his schedule for you,” Polly says, passing her a piece of paper with their mother’s neat handwriting. She looks it over somberly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s Saturday, so he’s gone to visit his sister in Greendale already and now will stop by Pop’s to get his usual order, double cheeseburger with fries and a vanilla milkshake. Then he’ll go for a walk around the town.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s where it’s best to get to him” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ignores her sister’s words. She can’t ignore her getting up and bringing over a small clear vial, though. She presses it into Betty’s cold hand, smiling lightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Betty is scared. She’s scared of taking a human’s life. She’s scared of being so very different from her family and her species. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She can’t do this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Polly… will you please come with me?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wants to jump into the river, straight from her bedroom window, but her sister scolds her, reminding her she’s wearing human makeup. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’d go to waste,” she says, and Betty lowers her head, walking behind her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alice doesn’t say anything when she sees both of them exiting the house. Her only reaction is giving Polly a meaningful look which Betty guesses means </span>
  <em>
    <span>Make sure it’s done.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She’s looking down at her feet in her brand new pink sandals, and she imagines the feel of water against her skin. The soothing pressure, the calmness. Nothing else exists in the water, just her in her pure form. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There he is,” Polly hisses, jerking Betty from her thoughts. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looks up quickly, following her sister’s gaze down the road. She watches the man who will soon pass them, and luckily, he’s not watching them. His head is bent over his phone, making it difficult to see his features. Betty can see his pretty dark hair, though, and it reminds her of the waves. Her hand itches with the desire to reach out and run her fingers through it, to feel if it’s as silky as it looks. His figure is tall and lean, and when he finally passes them on the street without looking up, all Betty can see from his face is a sharp jaw and a few beauty marks scattered across his cheek. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sisters make a few more steps before Polly stops, turning around abruptly. Betty follows her example and together they silently walk behind him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly has done it before, she knows, but not enough of times to be this confident in it, Betty wonders. But when she looks at her, she does see confidence in her features. Confidence and determination. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He makes a call during his walk, and his voice is low and distant, but she still recognises it. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>him. Betty’s insides shrink even more. She was hoping they somehow traced someone else, and the whole plan was messed up, and they’d have to start again some other time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, no. This rather handsome human, from what Betty could see, really was her first soul to be taken. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She grips the vial in the pocket of her dress, taking a shaking breath. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The man reaches Sweetwater river and stops, looking over it. You can see the Cooper’s house from where he’s standing. Is he watching it? Thinking about how it’s going to be gone in a matter of weeks? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly tugs at her arm. “Now, Betty. He’s distracted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s standing only a few steps away from the edge. She could easily sneak up on him and pull him under, especially with his phone glued to his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She watches his long fingers and shiny hair, and maybe she lets her eyes drop to his backside, too, and she feels her body go cold.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I can’t.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s human. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His heart is beating.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He has a life. A family that will mourn him. Friends that will miss him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s cute.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t know where that last thought come from, but she shakes her head to get rid of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I - I can’t, Polly,” she whispers in a broken voice, backing away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She can’t be a murderer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She can’t keep a shelf in her room with stolen souls proudly on display. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She won’t be like the rest of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She won’t.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty realizes she’s shaking her head frantically, her eyes fixated on the figure of the man so oblivious to the danger he’s in right at this moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly watches her sister disbelievingly. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>have to</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Mother will be - “</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care,” Betty gulps, despite the fact she does. She cares very much about what their mother will have to say. But she will handle it. Somehow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly scoffs, turning away from Betty. She takes a step towards the human, her fingers curling into fists. “Alright…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“P-Polly, what are you doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Betty takes a panicked step after her sister, who already managed to take two more. “Making sure you won’t be disowned, Betty. This is for your own good.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She jumps up before Betty can say anything, her body colliding with the male. They both disappear under the surface with a loud splash, Betty gaping with her arm outstretched, as if to help, to stop, she isn’t sure. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The aftermath is quiet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Polly emerges from the water with her clothes wet, her skin glowing, her face smiling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I did you a favor, </span>
  </em>
  <span>her grin is saying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Betty doesn’t think. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All she can think about are those fingers. That hair. The voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I’m sorry, Mrs. Cooper, did you just try to bribe me? To </span>
  </em>
  <span>not </span>
  <em>
    <span>give you a better house? Well, that’s a first.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her soul. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His soul. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leaps into the water, her body sliding under smoothly. It’s like coming home. Her skin feels relaxed immediately, al the tension worked up… gone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It doesn’t take her long to find him. He’s heavier than he looks as she pulls him up, up, above the water. His eyes are closed and he’s almost as pale as her, and it scares her. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s not too late.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It can’t be too late.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Polly is gone when Betty finally drags his body to the shore. Her hands are shaking as she tilts his head backwards, noting how smooth and cold his face his. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She takes a breath she doesn’t need and presses her lips against his. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His soul.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her soul.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It can’t be too late.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You can’t die.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels a sudden pressure against her lips and she snaps her eyes open it time to see a flow of water falling from his lips, followed by loud and pained coughing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She needs to pull away and run and hide and think of a way to face her mother’s wrath, but once he opens his eyes and she finally sees, she can’t think of doing anything but stare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It’s like looking into her home. Two deep pools of raging water, staring straight into…</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her soul.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What has she done?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment and/or kudos if you did.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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